Lyxen
Great Old One
Not optimizing = not fully engaging with the system.
And please tell me where engaging with the system is defined as being the intent of the game ? How about engaging with the world your character is a part of, you know, like playing the role of the character ?
This is fine (definitely not forbidden), but isn't really worth discussing to any deep extent.
To the contrary, it's worth discussing extensively, because it's really annoying that it's being considered better and almost mandatory to "engage with the system" or optimise. How about making decisions in character, because it's what he would do considering the circumstances, what he knows about them, what is happening to his friends, etc ? For me, it's way more interesting than pushing tokens on a grid, but to each his own.